Hold Infinity
by Winterswild
Summary: An ancient evil is on its way to Earth. It's been defeated once before but the key to their victory lies in Piccolo's long lost past, the origins of Capsule Corp and a woman's murder. They're going to have to dig deep, but the clock ticks. A story with a lot of backstory. Final title change! OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Hold Infinity**

Set after Goten and Trunks were born but before Pan & Bra. Non-canon.

This is a story spanning centuries, centered around the Piccolo & when he was the Nameless Namek, Gohan, Bulma, Eighteen & my OC's, but with the rest of the Z senshi throughout!

 **Warning: Swearing, violence**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z or any of its characters.**

Enjoy!

Chapter one

This headache was relentless. An endless beat of pain drumming miserably against his skull. He tried for the third time to allow his mind to go into a meditative state. Minutes dragged as they passed by, but eventually he felt the dull throb ebb away as his mind retreated. But like before, his unconscious took him someplace else. The rush of the waterfall behind him fell into the sound of the road, as a car rushed by.

Ahead, he could see the trees gave way and right in the middle of a thick forest, a road stretched into the distance. He neared the tree line, apprehension slowing him down but ever curious. His hand gripped the last tree, the bark split and digging into his palm, his hands were small but they didn't feel it. He blinked and pushed on, walking to the very edge of the grass verge so that his toes were inches from the hot concrete. His sensitive ears was tingling and the sound of a vehicle coming from the distance made him turn his head to the right.

Coming over the slight hill, he could see a small truck appear over the horizon, the type he had seen the local farmers driving. Its grey metal sparkled in the bright sunlight, and he felt a sense of something...something.

His eyes opened wide and he fell ungracefully to the rocks below, sucking in air like he had been under water. The headache slowly began to pound its way back into his consciousness and he growled, angrily tossing his turban in the water. Piccolo was not having a good day.

Gohan landed not a minute later and Piccolo sighed, his patience was a little like that lingering dream you can't quite remember. He stood and gave the younger man half a forced half smirk, which may have appeared more like a grimace. Gohan smiled anyway and scratched his head, a lot like Goku used to do. His cheerful tones were a stark contrast to Piccolo's mood.

"I have some news"

The Namek crossed his arms and waited patiently. Gohan continued, all but blurting it out.

"Videl's pregnant" He grinned then, all teeth and happiness.

Piccolo couldn't help but break into a genuine, rare smile. He walked forward and put a hand on the young man's shoulder and squeezed.

"Congratulations Gohan"

He was so excited, Piccolo could see it in his eyes, and maybe a little nervous too. Of course. Brown eyes swam with emotion and the Namekian wondered if any of it was mirrored in his own black ones. _I hope you know how happy I really am for you._ He didn't have time to give it much thought before something sparked in his mind, they both looked up into the sky. Gohan's voice was concerned.

"Did you feel that?" It was rhetorical, and with a glance at one another, a moment later they were both in the sky, flying at high speed to the power level they were now detecting on the Lookout. They were soon joined by Vegeta and Trunks, and could sense Eighteen, Krillin and Tien flying in from the other direction. Piccolo felt for Dende, worried for the young Namekian he had become so fond of in recent years.

 _Dende, are you okay?_

For a moment the silence continued, his telepathic message going unanswered. Bile began to rise in his throat as he flew, before the little Kami responded.

 _I'm fine, I thought you'd be coming. We have a visitor._

He sped up and a couple of long minutes later, they landed on the Lookout. White tiles clicked as they landed. Gardens stood beautiful, lush and dancing in the wind as Dende stood, anxiously waiting next to a stranger who was cheerfully talking with him. In the distance, he could see Eighteen, Krillin and Tien land and run over. Vegeta stormed over and announced his presence with a resounding shout.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

The visitor faltered, seeming confused, before answering.

"My name...you can call me Blue" He pointed to his navy blue hair as if that should explain everything.

"Don't worry, I'm not here to cause a problem...actually..." He stuttered and with disbelief written all over his face. His grey eyes widened as he looked towards Piccolo. He walked over towards the Namek and stood toe to toe. They were well matched for size and Piccolo naturally frowned, crossing his arms. He wasn't sure whether he should power up or not.

"It's you"

The Namek didn't get a chance to respond before the other man had grabbed him in an embrace. A moment's hesitation allowed it to last all of a second before he balked and pushed the visitor away, hard, his tone vicious and uncomfortable.

"What are you doing?"

Blue blinked and slowly his arms dropped and hung at his side. Everyone looked on in confusion and Krillin coughed, before speaking.

"I'm sorry...do you two know each other?"

Piccolo and Blue spoke simultaneously.

"No"

"Yes"

Piccolo hissed, feeling increasingly irritated. His headache was now hammering.

"I have no idea who you are"

A few seconds passed by and Blue nodded.

"You don't remember"

Piccolo scoffed, "evidently".

Dende intervened then, sensing that Piccolo's patience was wearing thin.

"How do you know each other?"

Blue relaxed then, putting one hand on the gun holster on his belt, more for comfort than anything else. It was then that Vegeta noticed the insignia on his uniform and interrupted.

"You're a member of the police"

Blue smiled then, "yes, you know the Galaxy police?"

Vegeta nodded, and then scoffed. "Yes, not that i've ever seen any of you do any actual policing"

Eighteen then asked, her tone even and clear, icy blue eyes penetrating. A foolproof radar for bullshit.

"Are you here to arrest someone?"

Blue chuckled then, silver eyes sparkling in mirth. "No, not yet anyway. The perpetrator hasn't arrived."

Gohan cut in "Arrived? You mean to Earth?"

"Yes, news is he's on his way here. I hear your planet attracts a lot of trouble so it makes sense."

Krillin laughed and the rest of the z senshi looked at him with disapproval.

"What?...It's...true" His laugh died down under the scrutiny.

Blue continued then "Not sure what the ETA is, I think not for a month at least"

Piccolo listened, unsure whether to trust the newcomer.

"And how exactly do you know me?"

The stranger's eyes looked at him in recognition and it was unnerving.

"Well, it's been an awful long time, probably around" he thought for a moment "four or five hundred Earth years" He said it as if it were a perfectly acceptable absence.

Piccolo blinked. "What?"

"You've aged well"

The Namek stood, arms crossed painfully tight, head throbbing away. He looked at those grey eyes and he felt something gnaw away in his mind. Blue waited, hand still resting on his gun holster and Piccolo wondered if at any moment he may suddenly start shooting. Dende's voice was friendly and patient.

"The nameless Namekian, before he split himself in two, that's who you knew. Piccolo, you don't have any memories from before the split do you?"

Piccolo shook his head, no.

"Nameless?" Blue laughed "I think I remember that, you...were called...it wasn't Piccolo"

He thought for a moment. "Tenchi" He smiled, sharp white canines a lot like Piccolo's.

Piccolo sneered. "Tenchi?" _What a ridiculous name._

Blue laughed again. "Yeah, you didn't name yourself, don't worry. Bonnie did"

At this, the Namek paused. The name tugged at him in a way he couldn't say. His lips stalled as he mulled over the name, and then he wondered if it was just a randomly selected human name Gohan noticed his mentor's frustration.

"Um..who's that? You were Piccolo's friend then?" he smiled, hopeful.

"Oh, just some human. She'll be long dead now. Yeah, we were good friends actually".

Vegeta huffed and stood confrontationally in his training gear.

"Enough of the history lesson. Who is this aggressor?"

Blue looked down at the angry Saiyan.

"Oh, a murderer, he killed a lot of people here on Earth at the time before being arrested. He escaped prison six months ago, I've been tracking him since then".

Vegeta nodded and then declared.

"We need to train then, we have only a month!" He shot from the Lookout in a bluster of Chi. Not caring that he was crossing paths with Bulma's air car as she touched down. She ran over, with a young Trunks running ahead of her. She had a capsule corp jacket on and stopped to breathe heavily once she arrived.

"That asshole flew off without me!"

She then brushed herself off and stuck her hand straight out towards the stranger.

"Oh hi! Welcome to Earth. You're much too cute to be here to kill us!" She smiled sweetly. Krillin slapped a hand to his forehead.

Blue shook her hand hesitantly, Gohan could see how uncomfortable their visitor was and spoke quickly.

"His name is Blue, he's a Galaxy police officer here to arrest someone, but they haven't arrived yet"

She nodded her approval. "Right! How long do we have?"

Piccolo spoke then, deep tones resonating with irritance.

"A month". He then turned and walked away, cape swimming in the air as he went. Silver eyes followed him and in them was something that Gohan couldn't identify.

"Well!" Bulma's painted lips rose in a smirk "you'll need somewhere to stay until then! You can stay at Capsule Corp!"

He hesitated, the words feeling familiar on his tongue. "Capsule Corp?"

"Yeah! Don't tell me, you've heard of us in space? I'm not surprised, we're incredibly famous!"

He laughed a little, "that's probably it...and I'd be honoured".

"Right then! Come with me" she pointed her thumb behind her to the air car. "Come on Trunks"

Gohan watched Bulma lead the newcomer away as he shared a look with Dende. The little Namekian then made him laugh wholeheartedly.

"Rather him than me!"

Gohan felt a little relief, it was refreshing not to have a friend in visitors to the planet.

"Oh! Guys, Videl is pregnant!"

Krillin was ecstatic and even Eighteen smiled and congratulated him. He distinctly felt that the day wasn't a total loss after all.

Piccolo tried to stand and failed. It had been about 12 hours since the arrival of their visitor and he had trained with an exceptional vigor ever since. Exhaustion was echoing in his bones and to his eternal dismay, he could still feel the headache tapping away. The feeling he had when he had met Blue wouldn't leave him. Not a bad feeling, as such, just a strange sensation, like he had already met him. Gohan had described such a feeling once and he remembered the name, _deja vu._

Of course, apparently he had actually already met him. For all his attempts, he couldn't summon any memory from before Kami and his Sire had split. A couple of flashes, wandering in the wilderness as a child. One particular memory though, he had always remembered. He couldn't recall much, maybe the distinct blue grass of Namek, maybe. But the foreign words he could hear clearly, said in a thick Namekian accent.

 _There's a darkness in you._

He opened his eyes from where he lay in the grass, beaten and bleeding. The satisfaction he would usually get from a good training session was conspicuously absent. He kept thinking of those grey eyes, how they meant something. And the name he had mentioned. _Bonnie._

How it had struck a chord, like remembering something you had forgotten and then...not remembering why it was important.

He was curious too, he couldn't deny that. He didn't know anything about that time or who the nameless Namek was. He wasn't sure if his curiosity was such that he would seek out the answer.He supposed he could ask but either way, it was unlikely he would trust a single word.

The sky darkened and his eyelids eventually drifted closed. He hoped that his exhaustion would finally help him meditate for the first time that day.

Bulma was in good spirits. Vegeta was training and ignoring her as usual but Blue was keeping her plenty occupied. They had talked into the late evening, and she was excited to learn that he had an admirable knowledge of science. He had complimented her work and had cleaned up after himself. All in all, she was pleased. She had woken up the next day rather determined.

She had wanted to talk about the incoming threat but decided to hold a meeting with everyone present. So she had set about making phone calls to invite everyone over to Capsule Corp later that day. She noticed that Blue had not awoken yet that morning but she did suppose it was early, only 08:00.

She scheduled the meeting for 13:00, that way they could all have lunch as well. Bunny was organising the catering already.

Gohan had left Videl to fetch Piccolo at Bulma's instruction. He felt bad that the Namek was going to have little to no notice but figured that Piccolo's schedule always had room. Though he was sure that the irate man would grumble about the loss of training hours. Gohan smiled at the thought. The thought left him in a rush as he arrived, noticing that Piccolo was laid down in the grass, next to the waterfall. It was very unusual to see Piccolo sleeping instead of meditating. Even more unusual, was seeing him resting during the day.

He landed a few meters away and walked over slowly, not wanting to startle his mentor. He expected Piccolo to notice his presence but seconds passed by with Gohan standing over him. For a terrifying moment, Gohan wondered if he was alive and knelt down to press a hand to his chest. Piccolo awoke with a start, sitting up and cracking his head against Gohan's, hard. They both yelped and Piccolo was instantly angry and confused.

"What are you doing?!"

Gohan hesitated before rubbing his head and answering through the daze.

"Um, sorry. You were just laid there and I thought something had happened"

The Namek seemed to calm down then and take in his surroundings. The sun was sitting high in the sky. The images in his mind, his dream, then swam to the forefront of his mind. The headache drummed into action then and he hissed under his breath. Grey eyes and darkness, rain and pain. These things swam in his mind's eye. The heat of a hand on his shoulder, the cold of the rain as it soaked his shirt and froze his skin. The pain in his chest.

Dismissing the thoughts, he brought a hand to his head and felt blood there and checked that it was his own and not Gohan's.

"I'm fine" Gohan seemed relieved to hear it but pressed.

"Good, but...why were you sleeping. I mean, it's just that you don't usually and-"

Piccolo cut him off before he could ramble on.

"I...just overdid it yesterday"

Gohan seemed outwardly happy enough with that and smiled his usual smile. He would catalogue it for later.

"Okay, well, I'm here because we've been summoned to Capsule Corp. We're going to find out some more about this guy coming in a month"

Piccolo nodded and stood up, brushing himself off.

"Okay, I'll be there. When is it?"

Gohan laughed nervously.

"Uh...now"

Piccolo sighed in barely contained contempt.

"Let's go then"

They both took off, the air displacing as they left.

Bulma stood with hands on her hips as everyone arrived. She had even invited Master Roshi and that pig that annoyed her so much. Chi-chi seemed happy to see her, things had been hard after Goku's latest disappearance and Goten was still very young. She had brought a bowl of some food to contribute, despite it being completely unnecessary. Bulma thanked her and placed it on the table outside. It was a buffet, she found that with hungry Saiyans this was always a hit.

Everyone gathered and Bulma announced that they eat first. Gohan, Goten, Trunks and Vegeta were held back by an authoritative Chi-chi whilst everyone else had their share. Piccolo looked on in a mild mixture of disinterest and disgust. Eighteen stood with him, each with folded arms and stoic expressions. Her voice was cool, and as calm as ever.

"Disgusting"

Piccolo grunted in agreement and she continued.

"So you know this guy then?"

He looked at her and answered in low tones.

"Apparently, I don't have any memory of him, at least" he paused briefly "not anything I can pinpoint. It's more like a dream that I can't quite remember."

She raised an eyebrow and nodded slowly in acknowledgment. She remembered a time when Piccolo wouldn't have said more than one word to her at a time. They had become something akin to friends over the years, having spent most of their time stood together at gatherings like this. He was also a good sparring partner, and was also one of the only Z warriors to be in regular contact with Seventeen. Marron tugged at the leg of her blue jeans and she looked down and smiled, lovingly. Piccolo watched with no expression, but inwardly he felt something.

Blue watched on, steely grey eyes betraying nothing. He hadn't known if the rumours were true, he had heard on his travels to New Namek about the Z fighters. He had asked, trying not to seem too interested, about the Namek that had become Kami on Earth. They hadn't known much, just that he had split into two entities, one good and one evil. They had fused together again to face a stronger enemy. That's as much as they had known. They had not mentioned that the evil half had actually had a son, and the son was now fused with the good half of the original Namek. The Galaxy Police had that information, for some reason. Eyes everywhere. _I guess that's why those memories are well and truly gone._

He felt a sadness was over him for a moment as he remembered the Namek he used to know. _I wish things could have been different._

Soon, everyone was ushered round a table in what Bulma dubbed, 'the garden conference room'. Which to Gohan, looked like a garden room that she had just put a table in, but he said nothing.

"Hello everyone! I hope you enjoyed lunch. Now, Blue, tell us about this bad boy on his way to Earth!"

Blue coughed a little before speaking.

"Well, years ago when I was on Earth last, there was a man who murdered millions. You might know the event, it was a...biochemical weapon I think"

Gohan interrupted, his curiosity piqued.

"I think I've read about this, it wasn't well documented because so much was destroyed at the time, but...it was supposed to be a chemical enhancement right? I think they called it…" He searched his mind but Blue interrupted.

"It was called the Black Valley incident" he continued "the creator was just one man, a scientist, but an alien to your world we believe. Strong, intelligent and not to be underestimated. He's wanted for a number of things, genocide, breaking his ethical licence. Unfortunately we don't know much more than that."

Bulma thought then "right, so we need to do some research!"

"You do?" Blue seemed bothered.

"We will be better prepared if we know more about what we're up against!"

"I don't think there'll be many records left here on Earth" He remembered it being a mess of misinformation, confusion and death.

This was when Master Roshi interrupted.

"Um, I've been around a long time...and I don't know about any Black Valley incident. Plenty of times millions died of course but, nope, don't know it!"

"Maybe it's known as something else! Either way, we'll look into it" She gave a thumbs up.

"So how strong is he?" Vegeta spoke from his position standing against the wall with Piccolo and Eighteen.

"Strong, in lots of ways. Mostly though, it's advantage is telepathy, so it plays with your mind"

Vegeta sneered "well that's unhelpful"

"So we'll train anyway!" Yamcha was hopeful, if completely aware his strength was neither here nor there these days. Baseball kept him busy enough.

Piccolo frowned. "Great, so our best chance is what? The tiny child emperor and maybe Tien and myself?"

Chiaotzu blinked innocently and Tien scowled at Piccolo's insult.

"And...me" Blue smiled "they sent me for a reason you know".

The Namek breathed heavily, the headache he'd had for two days ticking away like a clock against his forehead. Eighteen noticed and a very slight look of concern graced her features before it was gone again.

They had wrapped it up, Bulma immediately digging into research that afternoon. She asked Gohan if he'd like to join her in the search and he accepted the offer gladly. Videl just nodded and excused herself home, she was tired, pregnant and irritated that she knew that Gohan wouldn't let her anywhere near this fight whilst pregnant. She wondered though, whilst flying home, if her father's resources might be of some use.

Two days later, Piccolo landed back at Capsule Corp, and sighed. He found himself in human culture more and more these days. He walked to the door, but it was opened by an excited Bulma, her blue eyes peering up him with so much enthusiasm. For a moment, he was taken aback, and he had to blink a few times. His stomach was turning.

"Don't be surprised, I saw you from the window. Come on!" She grabbed his arm and in his temporary confusion he allowed it. He had come without his cape and turban, so he could fit through the narrow halls of Capsule Corp. Soon they arrived at the 'strategy room'. Gohan looked up from an old tome and smiled.

"Piccolo-san!"

"Hi kid"

The Namek looked around the room. "Where's Blue?"

"On his way" with that, Gohan stuck his nose straight back in his book.

He waited for the visitor's arrival. Blue came in and clasped a hand on Piccolo's back in greeting. _Why must everyone touch me today?_

"Tenchi! I'm-"

He stopped, tongue caught and looked at Piccolo in an apology, before continuing on like nothing had happened.

"I'm glad to see you, I hope the headache is better?"

Piccolo stared blankly, he didn't remember telling anyone about the headache, especially not this interloper.

"I don't remember telling you"

Blue smiled "you didn't. You used to get headaches all the time, I could just see it on your face"

Piccolo continued to stare. _How on Earth? He must be lying._

"So, Bulma, what's the news?" Blue was curious, it seemed.

"Well, i'm afraid we couldn't find any photos, which would have been helpful. But we did narrow it down, we didn't call it the Black Valley incident, it was the Black Mist. It started in a place called...Elorn Valley. Easy to see how you could have got them mixed up of course!"

She stopped to flick a few pages in her notes. Blue smiled.

"The scientist you mentioned, we're having some trouble finding out much about him. But we do have some accounts of his arrest! Oh, and how that happened. Apparently a group led by another scientist managed to catch him. That's when you must have arrived to take him away Blue?"

The alien seemed to hesitate for a few seconds before answering "yes, that sounds right".

Piccolo narrowed his eyes. _That sounds right? What, he knows the way I look when I have a headache from 500 years ago but now he can't remember?_

"Fabulous! Right, we'll keep working, I just wanted to make sure we were on the right track".

At that she motioned for them to leave, Piccolo frowned and Gohan just laughed at her antics.

"I'll pop by later Piccolo"

"Sure kid"

With that, he left, Blue following him down the corridor. Piccolo deliberately didn't look back and exited the building, growing irritated that he was still being followed.

"Piccolo"

He turned and crossed his arms, waiting for the blue haired man to talk.

"I'm sorry, if I've done something to offend you. It's just...I didn't lose my memory" He smiled then, shy suddenly "we were good friends".

"I don't know you. I'm sorry that you remember and I don't, but there's nothing I can do about that."

Blue nodded.

"That's fair".

Piccolo felt something then, guilt maybe. He exhaled slowly before giving in to it.

"Am I the same?"

Grey eyes lit up then and he nodded.

"In so many ways, as curt and as difficult as ever. You did relax over the years".

"How did you know me?"

Blue seemed to struggle with this bit.

"I...met you when this all happened, news of it got to the Galaxy police, he was already on our watch list you see. Then, I caught him, we became friends."

Piccolo nodded but something told him that wasn't quite right. Grey eyes looked at him in a dark sky, and it was raining.

"Are you okay?" Blue placed a hand on Piccolo's upper arm, his skin light against his own, like Gohan's. He felt it then, the faint whisper of recognition.

"Yeah, I'm fine." His deep voice betrayed him but Blue ignored it.

"Well, I'll see you then. Feel free to come by if you have any more questions".

Piccolo nodded and took off into the air unreasonably fast.

Blue watched him leave and was lost in thought when Vegeta startled him, emerging from the compound.

"Was that the Namek?!

The visitor nodded and Vegeta scowled.

"Coward! Coming here to see the woman instead of sparring with me!"

Blue laughed.

"You really are every bit of the spoiled Prince you're supposed to be aren't you?"

Vegeta looked directly at him then. _So he knows of the Prince of Saiyans? Hope for him yet maybe._

He mentioned it to Bulma later on whilst eating crackers in the kitchen, trying to seem like he didn't care. She pointed out that being over 500 years old, he probably knew a lot more about Saiyans than he did. He stopped mentioning it after that.

Three more days passed by before Piccolo couldn't stop himself any longer. Meditation was difficult at best, images of things he didn't remember plagued him, the headache came and went like a recurring nightmare. He decided to go back to the compound, he felt compelled even, perhaps the answers would help him meditate. Meditation in turn would surely cure this unending headache.

He flew steadily, not wanting to seem too anxious. To his dismay, however, when he arrived he soon realised that Capsule Corp already had visitors. Chi-chi, Bulma and Eighteen were sat at a table in the garden, he could hear them talking and laughing well before he landed. Trunks, Goten and Marron were playing. Bulma was shouting over at her lavender haired son as he pushed Marron in the pool.

"Trunks! Don't play too rough! Marron isn't half Saiyan!"

Eighteen just laughed, her daughter might be human but she was no weakling. And of course she scared the two little half saiyans, so she doubted that they would do anything to upset her little baby. She noticed Piccolo before the other two and stood, slowly walking over.

"Piccolo"

"Eighteen"

She looked around Piccolo's left and frowned. He blinked in surprise, "what?"

"I think you forgot your toddler"

After a few moments, the joke dawned on him and he smirked.

"I didn't come for the mothers meeting"

Eighteen laughed and flicked her blonde locks in true Eighteen fashion.

"Figured, well Vegeta isn't here so I guess you're here to talk to the policeman"

He nodded. She waved at him dismissively as she walked away. Something about the way she waved made something pang in Piccolo's chest. As he turned his head right and she walked away, he couldn't help but think of the silver truck, glittering in the light, coming towards him on the road that stretched on forever. _The dream that started these headaches_. He groaned as he pushed the image down. _Not this bullshit again._

He walked inside Capsule Corp. Bulma apparently didn't mind or didn't notice that he was roaming within her home. He could feel the energy of the blue haired man and he pushed open the door to the 'research room'. Blue looked up and closed the book he was looking at.

"If you're looking for Gohan, he's not here. He is at work I'm told".

Piccolo grunted his acknowledgment. "Yes, I know. He teaches." He wasn't sure why he volunteered this information but continued anyway "I came to speak to you actually."

Blue looked up, leaning back in his chair, dark blue hair looking a lot like Goku's used to.

"Oh?"

Not one to beat around the bush, Piccolo got to the point.

"I keep seeing something. Of you, I think it's a memory, or something" He groaned internally, he sounded stupid, "it was raining heavily, dark but just after the sunset. I was stood in front of a stone slab, covered in flowers, and you...you put your hand on my shoulder. I turned around and..." _was I crying_? He didn't ask.

Blue looked stunned, but then quelled the surprise and stood, he walked up to Piccolo, their eyes were level.

"I remember that. It was raining so badly" he looked off to the side and Piccolo could see he was remembering "you were freezing, standing there in the graveyard. You lost someone you cared about. Yeah I remember that".

Blue smiled, genuinely, and looked so much like Gohan at that moment that it made Piccolo's chest flutter.

"I see" he burned with more questions but something told him he didn't know if he could handle it. Just the couple of memories he had were enough to be disrupting his normal life.

"I hope it helps".

Piccolo left quickly, not really knowing that that statement meant. Eighteen watched him fly away and she frowned a little.

Gohan pushed his glasses back up his nose. It was after 4pm and he would have to drop by Capsule Corp before going home. He had been researching every chance he got. Three weeks left, and some madman scientist was going to reign down upon them. He thought of Dr Gero and frowned, he felt like maybe they'd had their fair share of mad scientists really.

His mobile vibrated and he clicked the home button, displaying the message.

 **Elorn Valley North East, dad's sources says there was a lab there. Be careful. V x**

Gohan smiled, now that was progress. His wife was all he could have wished for and more, he quickly messaged her back before grabbing his suitcase and racing out the door. He text Bulma once he was in the air.

 **Won't be coming, V says there used to be a lab in Elorn Valley. Checking it out. Gohan**

His reply was short but he did smile at it.

 **OK. Take Piccolo, keep me updated. BB x**

He had already intended to pick up his mentor on the way. Piccolo could have been a detective in another life. Gohan day dreamed his way to the waterfall, picturing Detective Daimao, calling on the Great Saiyaman, solving crimes together. He knew Piccolo would be horrified and toyed with the thought of telling the irritable Namek. He was meditating when Gohan arrived but opened one eye in curiosity, wondering if the younger man had news. Good or bad.

"Hi, hate to just turn up like this, but Videl's done some digging, and apparently there used to be a lab up in Elorn valley back when this happened."

Gohan floated upwards, smiling. The invitation was implied and Piccolo followed him.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z or any of its characters

I'm not sure if this is a winner but i'm carrying on anyway! This story has been brewing away in my mind for a long time.

For you info - there won't be romance between Piccolo and my female OC - just friendship. Possible M/M in later chapter though!

As always, enjoy!

 **Chapter Two**

Bulma kept glancing at her phone, before scolding herself and slamming the book closed. They wouldn't even be there yet. She moved back to her computer and opened up another file. She had one of her assistants scan some of their written material onto the database, so that they could search quicker, maybe even cross reference. She also had a stack of downloaded newspapers from the time, or what they could manage to find in the main library anyway. She rubbed one hand over her face, probably disrupting her finely applied makeup. She didn't care. It had been a week already and they were getting nowhere.

Eighteen made her jump and she knocked over a hot cup of coffee, cursing. The blonde, as quick as ever, righted the cup before it could turn into a major incident.

"Sorry"

Bulma smiled. "No, it's fine, sorry i'm a little frazzled. They all asleep?"

"Yeah" Marron, Trunks and Goten had fallen asleep on top of eachother in a heap, she had left Chi-chi to watch over them with her feet up. She deserved the break.

"You know, I just feel like we're missing something, you know?"

Eighteen waited for the scientist to continue.

"Something important, like...so this scientist creates something, a bioweapon we're thinking, kills millions, whole countries dessicated" She noticed Eighteen's furrowed eyebrows "oh, things were a little different back then, we had countries, whole nations of people split up, some heavily populated. Before this happened and it wiped out nations and land with it".

She paused, thinking. "Then this other scientist, whoever it is, gangs up on him and what? Just gets him? Then the Galaxy police turn up and he's imprisoned?"

Eighteen purses her lips a little before answering.

"Isn't that what Blue said?"

"Yeah, it's just that it doesn't add up. For a start, they weren't even sure it was a biochemical weapon, in fact some thought it was actually a lifeform, organic and alive. They called it the black mist because there was always a dark shroud. But some sources are saying that it wasn't the black mist. The black mist happened afterwards."

"And not just that, the timeline doesn't make sense. I can't find any trace of the Galaxy Police being on Earth at all."

Eighteen tapped her manicured fingers against the desk before crossing her arms and responding.

"Maybe you're both right".

"Huh?"

"I'm not saying that this Blue is lying, but it was 500 years ago, maybe he doesn't know all the facts anymore. Maybe the truth is a mixture of what he says and what you're discovering now."

Bulma nodded "right, yeah, you could be right!"

She was interrupted before she could muse further by the beep of a text message.

 **Arrived. Gohan**

Gohan slid the mobile back into his pocket as he hovered over the ruins of what was probably once a very vibrant town. The structures were nearly completely destroyed with age, but the lake just next to it was still full of life, unaware of the sad contrast. Piccolo then started to descend to the North East part of town.

Both landed softly in what was once a street, dust brushing up against their feet. The silence seemed to be echoing all around them, like it was so quiet that silence itself was now a noise. Piccolo had a deep uneasy feeling, like he had already known something bad had happened here. Could see it now, but somehow knew it before too. He walked alongside Gohan on his right. Buildings that were now barely upright were mostly filled with a dark sand, rather than plant life. Gohan couldn't even hear the sound of burrowing animals, or birds fluttering and chirping above. He contained a shudder and something caught his eye.

"Ahead, look" He pointed at what looked a little more modern than the rest, though still ancient by his own standards.

The entrance was partially obscured, but Gohan could see it led to stairs that went underground. He could see the ruins of what would have been the entrance's disguise. A medicine shop, maybe. He smirked. _Makes sense I suppose._

They both walked down the stone steps and reached a heavy metal door. There was a device at the side that at one time might have had power running to it, but it was long dead and caked in dust. Both Gohan and Piccolo pushed the door, it didn't budge. The demi-Saiyan exhaled loudly before turning to Piccolo.

"I could power up but I don't want to blow a hole through it, we might need to close it behind us ya know" He laughed.

Piccolo frowned. _Right, who knows what we might find in there._

He looked at the box to the side of the door and he wiped off the dust and sand with a taloned hand. It was beige, just a blank strip of material and it didn't look like it did anything. But as he stared, he could see that the box slowly changed. Now it was no longer covered in sand. It was clean and he immediately glanced left, expecting to see Gohan but instead he saw wide blue eyes looking back at him. She smiled at him and it felt so normal. Piccolo blinked and she was gone, Gohan was staring at him with worry.

"Piccolo?"

He hesitated, unsure. "Gohan, I think I've been here before".

"What? You mean, back before you split with Kami?" Gohan was incredulous. He found it difficult to accept that Piccolo could have been around then, in any form.

"Yes, I mean. It doesn't feel like they're my memories really. But I remember them like they are, they feel the same."

Piccolo winced at his own honesty, he was saying too much. But Gohan's eyes told him different. They said _you can trust me_. And if there was anyone he could trust, it was Gohan.

The Namek raised his hand to the box and pressed his palm and fingers against it firmly. For a second, nothing happened, but then it whirred, and something in the door mechanism clicked. Gohan pushed the door and it swung open, heavy and protesting, but it opened. He glanced at the box. _A fingerprint scanner._

"Let's leave it open, if anything happens no one else will be able to get in"

Piccolo agreed and they both walked inside. Gohan pulled the two torches he had picked up at the store on the way, and gave one to his friend. He turned it on in a way that Piccolo could see him do it, so the Namek didn't have to ask. He knew how he hated to ask.

Light shone down the hallway, but didn't allude to much. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to text Bulma.

No signal. Of course. He frowned and pushed it back into his pocket.

Once white walls were covered in a fine line of dust, but nothing like the outside. Eventually there was a door on the right, Piccolo pushed both metal doors and once they passed through, the doors swung back behind them both. The room was big, there were several beds lined up on either side. Gohan felt that it looked more like a hospital than a laboratory. He thought, if he tried, that he could smell faint anaesthetic but he didn't know if it was his imagination. He stopped when he realised that the beds weren't empty. Swallowing and moving closer to Piccolo, he spoke now, voice quiet.

"There's…"

"They're long dead Gohan. Come on"

Machines and needles and devices were spilled onto the floor and they had to tread carefully.

Somehow, Piccolo pulled confidence out of somewhere and continued. He wasn't scared, as such, it felt more like dread. The bodies were small and something inside stung at the implication. He wasn't sure how he was involved, and he was becoming increasingly worried what that answer might mean. They both went through the next door together, a single door this time and Gohan gathered back his composure.

Another corridor, this one lined with doors on the left hand side. There was a name on some of the doors Gohan read each one aloud as they walked, feet sometimes crunching on ancient equipment.

" **Kayla Makito"**

 **Neurologist**

He shone his torch into each room through the little window but it didn't help much.

" **Hana Delfino"**

 **Scientist**

Piccolo felt something crawling in his throat as they walked. He ignored it.

" **Bonnie Briefs"**

 **Scientist**

The Namek stopped, he was ahead and Gohan had walked straight into his back.

"What?" Piccolo's voice was strained.

"I know, though it's not surprising, the Briefs had been around for a long time. The women always kept their name too, a lot of them scientists and doctors, things like that. Smart family"

Piccolo felt his chest constrict painfully, wide ocean blue eyes flashed in his mind.

He pushed through the door to her office, leaving Gohan staring down the corridor where Piccolo had been stood before following him inside. The office was small, but not overly, dusty papers lay everywhere, not as yellowed with age. An old computer lay dormant and Gohan thought that maybe if they could get it working, it could be invaluable. _Bulma would have a field day in here._

Piccolo was rifling through papers without a clue what he was really looking for, trying to stay on the task at hand. As he was moving, he could smell the sweet wisp of wild flowers and vanilla. _Her perfume._

He stilled as the memory rammed its way through his mind.

He was standing here, by the cabinet. She was sitting at her desk, leaning back in a brown leather chair, all cockiness and bravado. Her voice, gentle but firm.

"I don't care what he says, this is a Briefs Corp lab before anything else!"

Piccolo heard his own voice then, but it was different, lighter, _younger._ He held up his hands in mock defence.

"Don't tell me. I have absolutely no idea what this is about"

She smiled then, relenting. Bonnie sat upright in her chair, lavender hair spilling over her shoulders where it had fallen out of her bun. She rested one weary cheek on her han as she leant forward.

"I know, sorry. This capsulisation experiment is turning out to be a real nightmare. It's just one failure after another. At this rate, it's going to take 100 years!"

Behind her, paper was pinned up with sketches of giant dome buildings, a lot smaller, made of brick and less complex than the one there now, but the CC initials of Capsule Corp was unmistakable. He replied, repeating a phrase he had heard the humans say before.

"Rome wasn't built in a-"

"Stop right there. You have no idea what Rome was!" She was smiling now, genuinely.

He looked on and she stood then, she was a little taller than Bulma, but the similarities were all there. Her eyes were the same blue, determined and fierce, but there was a gentleness in Bonnie that Bulma didn't have. She walked towards him, lavender hair falling slightly onto the white coat.

"You can talk to him! He always listens to you!"

Piccolo came back to reality with an astounding thud, as he dropped to the floor. Gohan was already beside him, concerned when his mentor had zoned out.. Piccolo's mind was whirling unpleasantly, and the headache was now well within the migraine category.

"Piccolo!"

Piccolo stared, but instead of seeing Gohan, he just saw blood snaking towards him as he lay there on his front, head awkwardly and painfully turned to the side. He could feel immense pain in his lower back and a wetness had begun to pool beneath him, soaking his clothes. Blinking through the pain he realised he could hear loud machinery somewhere, it was deafening to his sensitive hearing but as he looked he felt the sound dissipate. Lying underneath the desk, with papers strewn everywhere, were those blue eyes. Bonnie lay there, on her front with hands pressed into her own blood. Her eyes were glazing over, reflecting pink as the red pooled and spread beneath her. Her white lab coat dipped into it. Piccolo felt himself make a noise but it was just a cough as he choked on his own blood, pain swimming in his vision. She said something then, but he didn't know what. The pain overwhelmed him, and he lost consciousness.

Gohan was frantic. Piccolo was unresponsive. His eyes were open but not seeing, he picked mentor up in his arms and started back the way they came, using his Chi to open doors, no longer caring. Piccolo's head lolled about lifelessly and he felt like a dead weight. When he left Bonnie's office he didn't notice the picture frame sat on her desk, nor the name printed on the next door.

" **Tenchi"**

 **Pediatrician**

Through the glass of the frame, a faded photo sat, a woman was sat down in the middle, lavender hair tied back, blue eyes glinting as she smiled, she looked pleasant. A blonde man stood next to her, leaning on the desk, with deep brown eyes. Another man, with dark blue hair and grey eyes stood with his elbow on the shoulder of a tall Namekian, who's dark eyes warmed with the small smile he was giving to the person behind the camera. All were wearing white coats except the Namekian, who was wearing purple scrubs.

Gohan walked on, unaware. He strode confidently but with worry lining his young features as he made his way back through the big room with the ancient bodies, and back up the corridor to the main door. He wondered if the door would be closed now, and his mind conjured up unrealistic thoughts of zombies and darkness but it was open. He was through and he swiftly pulled the door closed, the slam echoing in the dead town.

Somewhere behind him, deep in the corridors and rooms, something stirred at the noise.

Bulma had given up on her phone and was actually asleep, head firmly against the desk. She came to with a start when she heard Vegeta's urgent tone.

"Bulma!"

He never used her name, she felt cold dread fill her gut. Her immediate thought was of her son but as she crashed through the door she could see Gohan standing there with Piccolo unconscious in his arms. She pointed to the room on the far right and Gohan went through, with Vegeta holding the door open. Blue, in all the commotion, was half jogging down the hallway chasing the noise. His pale features looked concerned. Bulma rolled some equipment into the room on a trolley. Gohan rubbed his hands through his dusty hair. After a few painful, long minutes, Bulma spoke, voice quiet.

"He's okay, I mean he's breathing and his heart is beating. But he's totally unresponsive"

Gohan breathed a few times to calm himself.

"What does that mean? When will he wake up?"

Bulma looked then at the demi Saiyan with genuine sympathy. For a moment she saw the short black hair and big worried brown eyes of a young Gohan, as he stood in his Saiyan armour on Namek.

"I don't know, I'm going to call our on call Doctor, hang on"

Gohan collapsed on a chair then, looking at Piccolo. His vibrant green and pink skin was dusty. Blue then asked, in a hesitant voice, from his position behind Gohan.

"What happened?"

Krillin and Eighteen followed Bulma back in, they had stayed behind, waiting on news from the lab.

"We got into the lab, one room...it was...there were bodies." He paused then but Blue interrupted.

"What lab?" Grey eyes became alert.

Vegeta spoke then, surprising them all.

"They found a lab in Elorn Valley, where this all started"

Blue went silent then, and Gohan continued.

"We found some offices, and one of them, Piccolo just stormed right in, it was important for some reason. We were searching and...he just zoned out for about a minute. Then he collapsed, I grabbed him and raced out of there."

Gohan breathed then, finally calming down.

"The name, it was Bonnie Briefs. And get this, there is a fingerprint scanner on the main door to get in. Luckily Piccolo had been there before and just..." he made a motion with his hand said the last bit in disbelief.

Bulma's brows were furrowed and she looked up then.

"Bonnie Briefs? I'm sure...no wait, Bora Briefs founded Capsule Corp. I'll check the archives. Anyway, the proper Doc is on his way"

Vegeta then chipped in, surprising them all again, before leaving.

"I'll get Dende"

Blue didn't look at any of them, his innards were turning. He looked at Piccolo with a softness in his eyes. _I'm so sorry Tenchi. You'll never know how much._

Gohan stayed the night, eventually falling asleep in the chair next to his best friend. Blue had let them be, if Gohan had found anything, he would know by now. Blue put on the capsule corp jacket that had been given to him. He would need to go to the lab to do some damage control.

The next day was uneventful, in a manner of speaking. Krillin had dropped by to console Gohan, he had also placed his hand very briefly on Piccolo's before leaving. The little former monk stopped by Bulma's kitchen for a glass of water and felt an awful dread. They had less than three weeks before this thing arrives and he grimaced as he thought of his little daughter and his lovely wife. He slammed the glass down, shattering it. He decided to speak to Master Roshi, the guy had been around forever, he must know something.

In his room in Capsule Corp, Piccolo was dreaming again. He looked right, and that grey truck came into view, trundling down the road, and as soon as it was there, it was gone. Every time, the truck would get almost close enough and then...nothing. Then he was in the lobby by the main door to the lab, E-lab, they called it. He remembered now that Bonnie said that Elorn lab was too 'wordy'. She was smiling and he pressed his hand to the fingerprint scanner. The door clicked and opened easily. Light flooded his eyes and they walked, the white walls telling him nothing. She was talking but his memory couldn't recall, he could just see her lips moving. The double doors pushed open and he felt familiarity, children of all ages lined the beds on either side. Above the door read a sign.

 **Elorn**

 **Temporary Pediatrics**

This was where Bonnie left him, half waving as she walked through the other door and to the next corridor. He was wearing scrubs, and nurses came over immediately, though yet again he couldn't hear them, just seeing their lips move.

The dream ended and left him confused, he thought that maybe he had woken up but he was certain this was just another dream. This time, it was more harrowing.

Black mist was everywhere, but he wasn't worried about it. He charged through, he was carrying a weapon and he recognised the lake in his periphery. The scent of burning was heavy in the air, he knew the humans were trying to burn the lab. It wouldn't work, it was already done. You don't kill the mother to kill a child that's already born.

It was somewhere here, the thing, the creature that was killing everyone, that was turning them into the black mist. He dimly remembered thinking something then. The phrase echoed in his mind, seeming so irrelevant and yet important at the same time.

 _What would you give for forever?_

The words had been said to him so long ago but he remembered that the voice was so soothing. Grey eyes flickered in dim light as he spoke. Words that were centuries old now.

 _What if I could give it to you?_

Bonnie was there then, back in that little office and she held his hands in her own. He felt her heart beating in her wrist. But this didn't feel like a memory.

"You have to talk to him, he listens to you"

He was confused but she held tighter.

"He listens to you"

He shook his head, he felt strangely aware. This time his voice was his own gravelly tones.

"Who?"

Piccolo sat up in the bed abruptly, breathing heavily. He looked to the window in confusion and saw the rolling green of a well looked after garden, violet and red petals fluttering on the sil. He sighed, relieved to see that he was back at Capsule Corp. He noticed he had company and from where he sat on the bed, stared into grey eyes that looked at him with sadness. He soon gathered himself and adrenaline shot through his veins like he had injected it himself.

"How do you feel?"

"I've been better"

Piccolo felt himself go cold as he looked at Blue, soothing words ringing in his ears.

 _What would you give for forever?_

And in that instant he knew, that it was Blue. _But what does it mean?_

Gohan came in, carrying a glass of water. He started to hurry when he saw that Piccolo was awake.

"Piccolo-san!"

"Calm down kid, i'm okay"

Gohan exhaled loudly in relief.

"I'm so glad, even Dende couldn't rouse you"

Piccolo spoke then, insistent and certain.

"We need to get back to that lab"

Gohan was still then; sitting down. Piccolo narrowed his eyes impatiently.

"We can't, it was...it exploded last night"

"Once the fire stops, sure we can take a look again but it doesn't look like there'll be much left worth looking at." He sighed then "some fail safe Bulma thinks, she did some digging and discovered it was a Briefs lab"

Piccolo felt recognition. He knew it was a Briefs lab, he didn't know how he knew. He had seen something in there, the memory of it swimming just ahead of where he could get it. Gohan gave him one last sad look before leaving the room to find Bulma.

Piccolo showered, clothed and thankfully emptied the glass of water before he joined the Z senshi in the 'research room' to hear about this latest drama. Bulma's voice was despairing.

"As you've all heard, the Elorn lab exploded last night. It's a massive set-back but all is not lost. It turns out it was one of our labs, back when it was Briefs corp, it was owned by Britney Briefs, it was a medical research centre. It also coupled as a temporary relief and specialist help for the local children's hospital, for more unusual cases." She seemed proud of the last part.

"Which sounds great, however, there was a lot more going on in there than was publicised. A huge amount of funds was being filtered through Elorn lab, far more than any of its experiments warranted. I also found documents pertaining to DNA manipulation between species, human, Namekian, and a number of others"

Piccolo looked up, he had sat down just due to sheer exhaustion. She continued then.

"More worryingly, was the experiment's agenda. I can't find the specifics, but one scientist, Bonnie Briefs actually, submitted an official complaint that the experiment was not for the furtherment of the human race, but for the furtherment of one man's career at its expense. The details are vague. But basically, if she figured out what happened, maybe we can"

Recognition filled Piccolo's mind. _Bonnie._ Images of the woman talking in her office were in his mind, then lying in her own blood. _Who were you? Who killed you?_

His onyx eyes were tired and he closed them as thought of the words that Blue had said, at some point, centuries ago. He almost mentioned it, but decided not to. It had no context, no meaning. He would need to remember more before saying anything.

"Blue, what species are you?" Yamcha asked this question, to everyone's surprise.

Their visitor hesitated. He looked human, but rather young for a 500 year old one.

"You wouldn't know it"

"Oh, it's just, maybe they used your DNA, you know?"

Blue was quick to counter that. "Doubtful, I arrived after the black mist was created"

The crowd then started talking amongst themselves, mulling over the news.

Two weeks passed by, without much new information. Piccolo was sparring, in the wastelands, with Vegeta, Tien with Gohan. The weather wasn't great and recent events had them all on edge. Piccolo spun around as Vegeta went to punch the right side of his face, he countered with a swift and powerful roundhouse kick. He missed, however, as the Saiyan disappeared, his long leg swinging through the air and throwing him off balance. He thought quickly, and used one hand to flip himself over back onto his feet. Vegeta came at him then, a rapid fire of kicks and punches. He stopped only when one of his fists connected with Piccolo's cheek and he pulled away with violet blood covering his knuckles. They'd been at it for hours and finally he called it, stomach growling.

Piccolo scoffed, _how many meal breaks do these Saiyans need?_ Gohan happily sat down to eat and Tien as well, though not as desperately. Piccolo just sat in his usual cross legged pose, waiting for his body to heal. They had a week left, and stepping up the training had been all they could think of. Blue had still been relatively unhelpful with information but helpful enough to be worth keeping around.

Piccolo wiped the blood from his cheek without much thought. They still weren't really sure what they were up against but they would put up one hell of a fight, he was certain of that much at least. He heard Gohan's phone ring, it was Bulma. He could hear her as clear as if she was standing next to him.

"You all need to come, you won't believe what I've found!"

With that, they packed up and all four of them flew to Capsule Corp. Tien felt like he'd spent more time there than at home. He knew that his telepathy may become incredibly important soon and he glanced, with all three of his eyes, to his companions. He only hoped that it would be enough.

They landed and were ushered inside, she was practically giddy, and Vegeta wondered if she had finally lost her mind. _Like scientists on this planet do apparently_. She handed Vegeta a newspaper clipping, the quality was dubious but you could still see the image clear enough. Piccolo, Tien and Gohan all peered easily over Vegeta's shoulder and Gohan gasped. Piccolo just looked stunned.

There in the photo, were four people. Bonnie was squatting down, lavender hair roughly pulled up out of the way with dirt on her face and blue eyes shining brightly anyway. Her clothes were tattered but hard wearing, she had a gun strapped to her waist. She was doing something with equipment in her hands when this photo was taken. A blonde man was also crouched to her right, brown eyes smiling pleasantly, large goggles on the top of his head and he looked in poor condition too. A girl was stood behind him, black hair and chocolate skin, grinning with fabulous teeth, she was holding what might have been ammunition. To Bonnie's right, facing the camera but leaning on one knee, was a Namekian, he was wearing the same tattered combat clothing, shirt rolled up to his elbows, exposing pink. There he was, with a lopsided smile, exposing one canine, eyes glinting in kindness and excitement. Tenchi, the nameless Namek.

The caption underneath the photo read:

 **Not all heroes wear capes, sometimes they wear lab coats**

The article went on to describe the black mist, the harrowing ordeal, the death of the inhabitants of Elorn, and the odd but brave group of former Elorn laboratory scientists that were now their biggest hope against the creator of the black mist.

Piccolo was speechless.

 **Until next time! Please R &R :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z or any of its characters

 **It's been a while since I updated, thank you for all your patience readers! I'm hoping to finish all my stories, slowly but surely.**

 **Happy reading.**

 **Chapter 3**

 **A Grain of Sand**

Seeing the image of himself, kneeling in the dirt, half smiling and with eyes full of promise, Piccolo felt his mind come up blank. He considered himself a controlled individual, and not too daft either, but this news article felt alien to him. Bulma was practically frothing with interest, and noted to herself how much her Trunks resembled the Brief's of old, Saiyan genes be damned. She read out the names written underneath the photo, trying to match the people in the image to each one.

"So that's Bonnie in the middle there, this…" she gestured towards the other woman in the photo "is Hana Delfino, she's another Scientist. This other guy, the blonde one, he must be Hiro Hoshino. It says he's a Nurse"

She paused for a second before continuing, glancing nervously at Piccolo as she did.

"This is you, or at least it was. Tenchi Briefs, Pediatrician...you were a Doctor Piccolo! And a Briefs apparently, although I don't see it" She smirked.

The Namekian frowned, not able to form any solid opinion on the matter other than irritation, disbelief and confusion. Bulma continued, her sharp mind not missing a moment to shine.

"It did say in the article that it was a group of five, and there is a name somewhere further down...ah, here it is. Alexander Harrington, he's a Biochemical Engineer"

Gohan crossed his arms, trying to absorb the article's information and remember the unusual names. He glanced at the photo, barely able to see it from where he was standing, and instead he let his eyes blur. It occurred to him that Piccolo may not have discovered his true power 500 years ago, or learned how to wield it, if he had been existing amongst humans. _If they defeated it, maybe we can._

Blue had appeared in the doorway, standing silently. Vegeta had sensed his presence and turned to regard him, always with a little hostility.

"How is it that the Galaxy Police doesn't have any information, photos or anything, if this so called Scientist was arrested back then?"

The question seemed an obvious one, and Gohan felt immediately ashamed that he had presumed Blue would have already handed over everything he had. The answer they received sounded regretful.

"There is nothing. All the records were destroyed, deliberately, when he escaped"

Vegeta countered it.

"Describe him then, and tell us everything, again, you must remember something"

Blue had already discussed with Bulma what he knew and Vegeta was well aware of that. It seemed to Piccolo that Vegeta was starting to either lose patience, or lose trust, or both.

"I've given Bulma a description, but I don't remember too many details. I've arrested a lot of criminals in my time"

The Prince of Saiyans just waited. Blue continued, seeing that the smaller man was not going to be easily dissuaded.

"The Scientist, he looked human. About Yamucha's height, dark hair, dark eyes, cold eyes. It was the mist that I remember the most, it was all encompassing, damp and empty. They both felt the same actually"

Gohan chipped in.

"You mean the Scientist and the mist?"

"Yes"

"Maybe they were the same. Like a transformation?"

Blue's eyes lit up.

"You could be right"

Bulma nodded, her hand still clasping the article.

"I'll look into it, meanwhile, someone should go back to the lab, once the fire is out"

Gohan exited the room after Piccolo, who wanted to flee but was trying not to. Blue had moved to the side, but not before sparing the Namek a familiar glance which Piccolo didn't appreciate. They walked side by side to the garden, in silence. Piccolo didn't utter a single word for the rest of the day, but to Gohan it felt like a thousand.

Eighteen had volunteered to accompany Vegeta to Elorn Lab, which was now mostly debris. Most of the earth above had fallen into the chasm where the underground facility had occupied before the explosion. The Saiyan swore under his breath as his boots touched the ground. Eighteen walked the perimeter of the disaster, shaking her head ever so slightly. It would take a lot of work to dig down and perhaps to no avail, as any evidence was most likely destroyed. Smoke and embers carried on the wind, making the place seem both alive and dead.

She looked around, noting that the dark sand that seemed to fill every hole in the ruins that lay around them. She had remembered Bulma reading, out loud, the news reports at the time, _the mist has spread beyond Elorn, leaving behind it nothing but dust._ She walked over to one of the buildings, it looked like it may have been an apartment block. Her feet stopped just a foot short of the wall, facing a window missing it's glass. Inside the building there was sand that stood almost as tall as she did and hesitantly, Eighteen put her hand forward to touch it, elegant nails raking through the grit. It spilled out onto the street. Pouring at her feet. Bulma's voice echoed in her head, _thousands of people now grains of sand._

She yanked her hand away.

Vegeta barked across the road towards her.

"Let's go, there's nothing here, follow me"

Eighteen nodded and they both floated upwards. The Saiyan set off in the opposite direction to Capsule Corp and in response to Eighteen's puzzled expression he simply muttered.

"The Lookout"

Piccolo dragged a clawed hand over his face, his skin feeling unpleasant and clammy. His migraine was now developing into some kind of physical nightmare and disjointed memories were cropping up more and more. He couldn't help but feel a bit of despair, not like the kind he had in battle when faced with impossible odds, he almost enjoyed that. This was just a hopelessness. _Like Cell._ He leaned back onto the tree's bark behind where he was sat and let his eyes drift closed. Images flooded into his mind's eye and as usual, he couldn't do anything to stop it.

Hana's dark hand grasped his own and firmly pulled him up, his own blood had now stained his scrubs but since both were purple, it wasn't noticeable. He felt a rush of affection, like the kind he felt for Gohan, and he felt a smile claim his features in response to her own.

"Come on big man, we've got miles to go before we sleep"

It was another one of those human expressions, one he had read before. Or he had heard it from her, he really didn't care. Dust and sand touched everything around them in the little house as he glanced around. A clean but wrinkled map lay on the table and his eyes barely registered it before Hana spoke again.

"We'll need to leave in an hour if we're going to get there in time"

A voice came from somewhere behind him.

"Do they have everything we need"

Hana bared her teeth in a smile.

"Everything. Every experiment had an insurance in case it went wrong, even this"

Piccolo's eyes flew open. Blue was sat cross legged about a metre away, proving to the Namek in that instant that he was obviously able to suppress his Chi. Those slate eyes were soft and his voice low.

"How is the headache?"

Piccolo said nothing, both on guard and purely pissed off. Blue continued anyway, like he was used to it.

"I can help...if you don't mind?"

"I do mind"

As if by design, the pain in his skull doubled and his eyes flickered. Blue knelt closer and grabbed the Namek's head in both hands. For a moment, the pain delayed Piccolo's response before he brought both his hands up to dig his claws into the stranger's wrists.

"What are you doing?"

From this proximity, he could see the gray in the other man's eyes were actually a blend of blues and greens. His jaw was strong and there were small fine lines at the corner of his eyes and just where his lip curved. Like he was aging, just very very slowly. _Not immortal then._ He hadn't noticed it before, before he had looked as boyish as Gohan. Blue closed his eyes and in an instant, Piccolo felt his mind go cold, like water had been poured directly into his thoughts. The pain dulled, and he allowed himself to breathe, painless, for the first time in over a week. He let it happen, like so many things that were out of his control recently, and as he did the memories were also swimming with him. This wasn't the first time, he realised as he remembered the other man's hands on his face and the same soothing presence. A snippet of an argument, heated words being exchanged, and the rain. The constant rain.

Vegeta landed on the Lookout in a huff, followed by a gentle touch down from Eighteen. He marched inside the Palace, bottomless dark eyes searching impatiently.

"Namek!"

Dende walked slowly, his robes flowing fluidly, refusing to be intimidated. Vegeta opened his mouth but Dende interrupted with a finger pointed in the air also.

"I know why you're here, and it's about time"

The Saiyan was speechless, which was a rarity in itself. The Kami led the duo to the small ship, stored in what looked like a cargo storage room, which Blue had used to arrive. The Palace was like Pandora's box. Vegeta smirked and Eighteen raised an eyebrow, with her hand on her hip.

Gohan sat at his kitchen table whilst Videl nursed a cup of tea opposite him. The wood was pine, or an imitation of it, with little placemats with pictures of daffodils on them. She tried to force a reassuring smile and cocked her head.

"You're worried"

Gohan scoffed, but kindly, before leaning back to put his hands behind his head.

"Yeah. I just wish my dad were here you know?"

"I know"

"And what's happening with Piccolo, I don't understand it. I feel like I don't know who he is, and neither does he. But either way, I don't even think he's well enough to fight"

"You're worried about him too." Her tone was gentle whilst she tightened her hold on the tea cup.

"Of course, I don't think I could bear for something to happen to him. I already lost one father"

He half smirked at his own admission but didn't voice the rest of his thought, _and I can't stand to lose you or our baby, before it's even born._

She heard it anyway.

Blue released his hold on Piccolo's temples and leaned back, knowing all too well that the Namek liked to have his own space. The Namek expected a flood of pain but it was pleasantly absent. He then seemed to know, instinctively, that the pain relief would last a while before it crept back again. Blue sat back, his navy locks swaying as he did, and the Galaxy Police uniform looked different up close. It looked old.

Curiosity got the better of him, and the words had left his lips before he could stop them.

"How did we know each other?"

Blue weighed up his response for a moment, wanting so much to say everything.

"We were friends, good friends. You helped a lot when I was investigating, we spent a lot of time together during and then...after. Stayed in touch for a long time. Then you just stopped responding, I thought maybe you had left Earth. I hoped that you hadn't died"

He swallowed the last word, because it was true. The thought had occurred many times. Piccolo supplied what he presumed was the missing piece of information.

"When I, my sire, split forms. I lost my memory"

Blue nodded, grateful now for the information he had gained offworld about the Namekian's split. He was also amused slightly by the Namek's confusion of identity. Piccolo stood abruptly, feeling a lot more clear headed and a little less under the influence of all this bizarreness going on around him. He nodded his thanks and took off into the sky. Blue leaned back with the heels of his hands in the grass; soft, fresh blades and damp soil beneath his palm. How he had missed Earth.

Eighteen had tried to access the Ship's computer three times before her fourth attempt broke through, she sighed in success and tried to navigate the system. The flight path recording didn't mean much, but she catalogued it anyway. There were many things she despised about her Cybernetic nature, but having a photographic memory was not one of them. Vegeta had unzipped every bag in the hold and checked every pocket. The only things he had found he held clenched in his hand. It meant nothing to him but he recognised that it would to someone else. There was a notebook and within it he had seen various scientific notations, chemistry, perhaps. What had gotten his attention, however, was the photo which had fallen from its place between the pages. It was yellowed and curled at the edges with a sepia hue, in the middle of it stood a young Piccolo, with Bonnie and Blue. Another photo had been glued to the back, a black and white single shot of Piccolo with his hands cuffed. This was the second time, since Blue's arrival, that he wondered about Piccolo's involvement. King Piccolo had watched the world burn once already.

Either way, everything they'd found only resulted in more questions. Eighteen stood up and walked to the back of the ship to tell Vegeta what she'd found.

"I've got the flight recordings, but not much else. The ship does seem to belong to the Galaxy Police"

Vegeta slid the small photo into his pocket and said nothing.

 **Please R &R!**


End file.
